Is T20 format of cricket killing the real cricket skills of players?

With the passion of cricket flowing in the heart of every individual, the International Cricket Council (ICC) initiated the concept of Twenty20 in cricket in 2003 in England. Under this concept, the two teams play an innings each for a maximum of 20 overs. That is why, this game is named as Twenty20 commonly known as T20. The concept was incepted with a view to make this game more attractive to spectators.

As was thought, this concept attracted a whole pool of spectators. The people who did not use to watch One Day International (ODI) cricket match due to its involvement of atleast 6-7 hours, started watching T20 as it involved just 3 hours. The format became a massive hit within no time and ICC World Twenty20, Indian Premier League (IPL), Indian Champions League (ICL) are all the evidences of its hit. But with the T20 format becoming a hit, a major worry has started hovering the officials’ mind and that is, ‘Is T20 format of cricket killing the real cricket skills of players?’

With different people having different opinions on this issue, the answer to these questions is, Yes! There are many reasons for it. Firstly, the game of cricket is not only about hits but defense. It is easy to be on the crease and hit blindly to every ball as happens in T20 but it is extremely difficult to stay on the crease for a longer period of time and play skillfully by watching every ball that which ball needs a hit and which needs defense, as happens, Test and ODI. The real talent of a cricketer comes out only in ODI and Test and not in T20 which is only a means of fun, entertainment and business for everybody.

Secondly, the talent of the players get hides in T20 matches in a way that in ODI and Test matches, players and the captain play according to a definite strategy and technique in mind. This technique and strategy somewhere get sacrificed when it comes to T20 matches as here, players are only taught to score runs. They do not care about their technique of playing. Also, the factors like how to play under pressure when the wickets are falling and you still have a major target to cover are not taught to players.

Perhaps, this is the reason why India performed badly in its recent series with England. Perhaps, this is the reason why many newcomersare good in T20 but very bad in Test cricket and ODI . Such players lack the basics of the sport of cricket. However, if we talk about players like Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, they know how to play under extreme situations in Test match and ODI and that is why they are among the most renowned cricketers of the world.

To conclude, the format of T20 is good for fun and entertainment for people and good for earning loads of money for the cricketers and the cricket boards. But when it comes to the actual grace of the game, T20 can never compete the formats of ODI and Test, inspite of the fact of its major success and popularity. This is because, T20 does not allow the players to come up with their real talents as their only aim is to score runs on the board. Rest all the other factors whether it is technique or strategy, is not considered.